A student asks:

One of the most difficult things about learning Finnish so far has been vocabulary. I feel like it just doesn’t stick! Even when I manage to learn something, it shows up in a completely different form. Any tips?

My answer: 

Thank you for the great question! In my experience, people are really different when it comes to learning vocabulary, and it takes a bit of trial and error to find out what works best for you. 

In my opinion, the very best way to learn vocabulary in Finnish is seeing and hearing the words in context by reading and listening and using them by speaking and writing. No matter what kind of learner you are, seeing and hearing words over and over again, looking them up or asking someone for them over and over again is a must. It’s important to know that it’s normal to need to look up the same word several times before it becomes a part of your vocabulary, first your passive vocabulary and then eventually your active vocabulary. It’s easy to get frustrated when you feel like you “should” know the word already, but it can help a lot to know that this is a normal part of language learning.

This doesn’t mean that specific techniques for learning vocabulary separately aren’t useful, they absolutely are!

Here are a few that are worth trying:

1. Connecting the new word with something that you already know. This can be another Finnish word, but it can also be an image, a word in another language that sounds similar or even something like a feeling that you get when you think about the word.
 
2. Playing with words, melody and rhythm. Writing little poems, connecting words or sentences with melodies to make songs or repeating words, phrases or sentences in a specific rhythm works really well for a lot of people. You don’t need to be a great writer or a musician to try this technique!

3. Flashcards, especially online ones, are really popular. However, I’ve noticed that while they work brilliantly for a lot of people, not everyone gets great results with them. If you do decide to try them out, I recommend you either make paper ones or go for an app that has some kind of system to help you learn learn. Popular, good quality flascards apps include Anki and Memrise, which both help you learn systematically with enough revision. Making your own can seem inefficient, but writing the word down by hand will help you learn the word much better than going for a ready-made deck.
 
4. Sticky notes. Write the word on a sticky note and and stick it somewhere where you can see it every day. This really works, but again, it’s not for everyone.
 
No matter which technique you’re using, make sure you’re learning the the different forms of the word, not just the dictionary form. When learning Finnish, it’s a good idea to learn the word in the dictionary form, but its stem or stems. The stem is the  form that you add all the different endings to. Many words just have one form, like kirja ‘book’, but quite a few have two:

puhelin ‘phone’
stem: puhelime-
 
A select few have four:
vesi ‘water’
stems: vede-, vete-
partitive: vettä
 
If you’re not sure which forms to learn, check out this post where I explain this in more detail. If you’re at the very beginning of your learning journey, just learn the dictionary form or entire phrases without thinking about the forms yet, that will come later!

What has worked for you when learning vocabulary? Let me know in the comments!

There are three very common verbs for starting in Finnish:

1. alkaa

Alan kohta tehdä töitä. - I will start working soon. 
Kurssi alkaa huomenna. - The course will start tomorrow. 

2. aloittaa

Aloitan kohta työt. - I will start work soon. 
Aloitan kurssin huomenna. - I will start the course tomorrow. 

3. ruveta

Rupean kohta tekemään töitä. - I will start working soon. 
Or in spoken Finnish: Mä rupeen kohta tekeen töitä.
 
A question that I answer almost weekly is the difference between the first two different verbs for starting, alkaa and aloittaa. There are already at least two great explanations about this in English already, this one by Random Finnish Lesson and this one by Uusi kielemme, so I’m not going to go deeper into that here.

Instead, I want to talk a little bit more about ruveta. Ruveta is often missing for Finnish textbooks, but it’s a very common verb in spoken Finnish. It’s also used in written Finnish, but it’s a bit rarer there, which probably explains why it tends to be missing from textbooks for beginners. 

Ruveta goes with the MA-infinitive or third infinitive in the mihin-form, or the maan-form of the verb:

Rupean kohta tekemään töitä. - I will start working soon. 
Ruvetaan syömään. - Let's start to eat. 
Hän rupesi kirjoittamaan kirjaa vuosi sitten. - She started to write a book a year ago. 
Rupean nyt lähtemään. - "I will start to leave now", meaning I will start getting ready to leave.

In spoken Finnish, this form often gets shortened, and the ea in rupean turns to ee:

Mä rupeen nyt tekeen töitä.
Se rupes kirjottaan kirjaa vuos sitten.
Mä rupeen nyt lähteen.

There's a wonderful free online spoken language course, Puhutsä suomee, that has some good exercises if you’d like to practice these forms.

Here’s a short video of mine if you’d like to listen to some examples with alkaa, aloittaa and ruveta.

​Did you know all three already? Let me know in the comments! 
​

Usman asks:

Sometimes i get confused about  “niin”, its used so much for different purposes but mostly in puhekielli, is it ok to use in essay or fromal letter or depends on usage ??
 
Hi Usman! Thank you for the great question!

Niin is used a lot in Standard Written Finnish (kirjakieli or yleiskieli), not just puhekieli (but it’s also used a whole lot in puhekieli). It has a few different uses in written Finnish, here are, in my opinion, the three main ones:
 
1. Niin kuin - as or like: 

Niin kuin alussa sanoin... -
= As I said in the beginning...

2. For emphasising adjectives:

Ostin niin ison kahvin, etten jaksanut juoda kaikkea.
= I bought such a big coffee that I couldn't drink it all.

3. With kuin (note that this is different from niin kuin in 1):

Niin pian kuin mahdollista.
= As soon as possible.
 
In spoken Finnish, niin is used a lot more, especially when reacting to what someone else is saying.
 
- Se on 20 minuuttia myöhässä!
- Niin, pitäisikö sille soittaa?
 
- She's 20 minutes late!
- Right, should we call her?

- Tää kahvi on tosi hyvää!
- Niin on! 

- This coffee is really good!
- Yes, it is! 
 
Kielitoimiston sanakirja has a great, comprehensive article about niin in both written and spoken Finnish, which you can read here. 

Myat asks: 

Why doesn't "kirkko" change kk to k in location cases?

Hi Myat!

Thank you for the question! Kpt-changes definitely baffle a lot of learners of Finnish. So here we go, it's time to talk about every Finnish learner's favorite topic: kpt-changes also known as consonant gradation, astevaihtelu and kpt-vaihtelu. 

Kirkko ‘church’ actually does have a kpt change where one k disappears (kk:k), it just doesn't happen in every location case. Let's take a look at the different stems or forms that you add endings to: 

kirkko – nominative or dictionary form
weak stem: kirko-
strong stem: kirkko-

To get to the weak stem, we have removed one of the two k’s in the nominative form.

In this word type, you need the weak stem for most forms of the word, including the location cases Missä (inessive) and Mistä (elative):

kirkossa – inside the church
kirkosta – from the church (from inside the church)

We also need the weak stem for all the outside versions of the location cases:

kirkolla – at the church 
kirkolta – from the church, outside version 
kirkolle – to the church

For the Mihin or illative form of the word, you need the strong stem kirkko-:

kirkkoon – into the church

Whenever a word ends in o, it follows this type of pattern for kpt changes: the stem is strong in the nominative or dictionary form (kirkko), in the Mihin-form or illative (kirkkoon) as well as in the essive (kirkkona, ‘as a church’) and the partitive (kirkkoa). All the rest of the singular forms are made with the weak stem, kirko-.

This also goes words that end in one ö, u, y, a or ä.

If you would like to read more about kpt changes, the website Uusi kielemme does a phenomenal job of explaining it all. I also recommend Leila White's A Grammar Book of Finnish, which is my go-to for double checking grammar rules. 

However, remember that choosing the wrong stem isn’t the end of the world. Whatever you do, don’t get stuck on perfecting your kpt-changes before moving on to other topics, these will come in time! 

Me mentiin naimisiin tässä kirkossa. - We got married in this church.
Me käveltiin yhdessä kirkkoon. - We walked to church together. 

Vilppulan kirkko, kuva: Vesahjr, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Reading in the language you want to learn is one of the best ways to level up your language skills. But it can be really difficult to form a regular reading habit and stay motivated. Luckily, there are wonderful teachers who can help you do just that! One of them is Hanna Männikkölahti from Random Finnish Lesson. In this guest post, Hanna talks about her new course to help you to read a whole book in Finnish. 

Hi there! This is Hanna from Random Finnish Lesson / Private Finnish Lessons, guest posting on Mari’s blog. Mari and I have known each other since October 2017, when she introduced herself to me on Facebook. I had been offering private online lessons for a while, and Mari was just about to start her business. Initially, we chatted on Messenger, but now we also meet face-to-face several times a year.

I’ve been following Mari‘s Steps towards YKI courses, and we’ve talked a lot about online courses that combine independent work with group meetings. I’m excited to announce that I’ve finally put together my own course! It’s all about reading ‘Tuntematon Kimi Räikkönen’ in easy Finnish within a month. You can read a sample of the book here. 

In my course, students will read the book on their own, but they will also watch videos where I discuss the book or read it aloud with them. I’ve also curated the best Kimi Räikkönen videos on YouTube and organized them to complement the book as you read. Students can chat about the book as much as they want in my Telegram group, and we’ll meet four times on Zoom throughout the month.

Here’s a link to my blog post about the course: https://randomfinnishlesson.blogspot.com/2024/07/tuntematonkimiraikkonen.html

You can listen to a podcast episode where I discuss the course in Finnish. My podcast is also available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Inspired by this upcoming course and excited about my ChatGPT skills, I finally finished a Memrise course featuring vocabulary from ‘Tuntematon Kimi Räikkönen’. 

If you want to join the course, send me an email at [email protected]. I will send you an invoice and a link to the course materials. The early bird price is €39 if you sign up by July 15. After that, the price is €55. 

I’m looking forward to having you in the course! I honestly believe there’s no better support for reading a book in easy Finnish. 😊
​
Best regards,
Hanna

I very often get asked a version of this question: 

I'm preparing for YKI, and I need to pass the writing part. I can't attend a traditional classroom course, but I don't feel like I'm making enough progress on my own. Private lessons are over my budget. Is there another way to get feedback from you for my writing? 

I've designed a course for this specific purpose. It's called Steps towards YKI: Writing, and the next chapter is coming up in August 2024. 

You get access to the course materials on signing up and can start studying whenever works best for you. Then, once the interactive part of the course starts in August, you can share your work with me in a dedicated Telegram group or on Google Docs, where I read your work, comment on it and make suggestions on what to focus on next to get to your goal. 

The course is open for enrollment now. Here's the course page. If you're reading this after August 2024, the next interactive part of the course will be in January 2025. 

Lämpimästi tervetuloa, a warm welcome! 

José Carlos writes:
How to say in Finnish the following?

1. I CUT my finger with a knife.

2. She CUT my hair.

3. I CUT the paper with scissors.

4. I CUT the onions in slices.

5, I CUT the potatoes in cubes.

6. I CUT my hand with a broken glass.
 
Hi José!
Thanks for the great question!
The verb you want for all of these is leikata with different forms to go with it.  Let’s look at them one by one.
 
1. I CUT my finger with a knife.

Leikata + mihin
Leikkasin sormeen,

where sormi ‘finger’ is in the mihin form. So literally, I cut into my finger.

2. She CUT my hair.

Hän leikkasi minun hiukseni.

Here, hiukset is the object of the sentence. Because hiukset ‘hair’ (as in the hair on you head) almost always goes in the plural (so literally: hairs), you have two options for the form of the obejct: the t-plural – also known as plural nominative – and the plural partitive.

So without the my, the sentence would be either

Hän leikkasi hiukset
or
Hän leikkasi hiuksia.

Both are correct, but there’s a little difference: hiukset is what is known as the total object, so all the hair was cut and the action has been completed all the way to the end.

The partive hiuksia means that the process is still ongoing or only partially complete. I chose hiukset, as without more context it feels more intuitively correct that the haircut would be completed, but hiuksia also works just fine!

Now, we still have the my to add. In standard written Finnish, this is done with minun (my) and a possessive suffix, which goes on the singular stem of the word in the t-plural, like this: 

Hän leikkasi minun hiukseni.

For a more informal and easier to form version, you can also just use the personal pronoun:

Hän leikkasi minun hiukset.

3. I CUT the paper with scissors.

Leikkasin paperia saksilla.
or
Leikkasin paperin saksilla.

Again, the choice between paperia (partitive object) or paperin (total object) depends on what you want to say: partitive for an ongoing process and paperin for a completed action.

4. I CUT the onions in slices.

Leikkasin sipulit viipaleiksi.

Viipaleiksi is a form called the translative, and it’s used for all kinds of transformations, like whole onions becoming slices or students graduating and becoming Finnish teachers:

Valmistuin suomen kielen opettajaksi. – I graduated as a Finnish teacher.

5. I CUT the potatoes in cubes.

Leikkasin perunat kuutioiksi.

6. I CUT my hand with a broken glass.

Leikkasin käteni rikkinäisellä lasilla.

This would be a completely literal translation of your sentence. However, in this sentence it sounds like you were holding the piece of glass in your hand and cut your hand with it (like you did in sentence number 1), presumably by accident. If the broken glass is on a table, you pick it up and accidentally cut your hand with it, the Finnish version would be something like this:
​
Satutin käteni rikkinäiseen lasiin.
So: I hurt my hand with a broken glass.

Would you like to study with me?

• If you're at level A2 or above, you might be interested in my upcoming YKI writing course in August 2024, levels A2-B2. 
• For all my upcoming courses, see this page. 

One question that I get asked over and over is some form of this: 

How do I become fluent in Finnish? Is it even possible? 

I of course always answer, yes, it is! Every student that I have ever known who has put in the work and kept going has gotten there. But don't just take it from me. Lidiia Salo, Finnish learner, B2 level Finnish speaker and founder of the wonderful YKIPass community, has agreed to share her language learning journey with us in this guest post. 

Even before moving to Finland, I knew I would need to learn the language if I wanted to build my life there. I found an inspiring tutor online, who was a polyglot and spoke 11 languages. I thought things were working out just fine; we met once a week and practiced the basics of the language. Until one day, my husband overheard our lesson. He was confused and kindly suggested that I look for another teacher, as what my tutor was teaching me was not Finnish.

Learning 2: If you wish to hire a Finnish language tutor, choose a native speaker or a bilingual person.


I listened to my husband and found a bilingual teacher whose languages were Russian and Finnish. Eila, if you are reading this, know how great you are. At the same time, I received a letter from the TE-office stating that I had been accepted into the language course. It's a part of the integration program in Finland. Our lessons with Eila ended, and another chapter began.​

Right after Galimatias, I enrolled in the YKI language test. My goal back then was not to apply for citizenship but rather to check if all the efforts paid off. 

There, I realized it's not so much about the language progress but rather the test system. If you train for it well enough, you might pass the test even with a lower level of Finnish.

The most shocking part of the YKI Test for me was the speaking. Everyone was in the same room, divided by a small cardboard. Honestly, it would have been better not to have them at all because it was not helpful. Everyone was talking at the same time, which was super distracting, and I surely lost many points at the beginning just trying to focus. The reading part turned out to be less challenging than I expected.

Learning 6: Use a timer to practice for the speaking part of the YKI. Don't worry about mistakes you might make; focus on being understood.​

And we have created “A Step-by-Step Guide to Passing the YKI Test”. It’s an e-book available to download for free from the website ykipass.fi. It works as a friend, being there for you on the way to passing the test. We have interviewed numerous test takers and YKI Finnish teachers to share their knowledge and expertise. 

Learning 7: One piece of advice I would give to someone preparing for the YKI Test is to take a YKI-specific course when you reach level A2.

​

Right now, I have reached a B2 level in Finnish. I understand almost all the conversations around me and can respond in Finnish. However, this is not the end. Language learning never ends, and living in Finland provides you with many opportunities for improvement. Trust me, it's worth the time!

​- Lidiia Salo

Mari here again! 

Thank you for the wonderful and inspiring blog post Lidiia, and thank you for interviewing me including me in your recommendations in YKIPass! 

P.S.: My next YKI course is in August 2024, and we will be focusing on the writing part of the text. Here's the course page! If you're reading this at a later time, here are all my upcoming courses. 

​Sadaf asks:

Hi, I am planning to seat for YKI test. It's been a year since I am planning this. But I have a small baby and it's really hard to study or prepare for the exam. Can I have any suggestion on how to pass YKI test level 3. I have finished Suomen mestari 1.
 
Dear Sadaf,

Thank you for the great question! Studying with a small baby is definitely a huge challenge. When I think back to the first year of my own child’s life, my first thought is that it was often a huge challenge to just somehow keep everyone fed, warm and relatively clean, and to keep our home from descending into complete chaos. I don’t think it would have been possible for me personally to study for a standardized test at that time. However, that’s not to say that you shouldn’t attempt it! Babies, families and experiences are really different, and what would have been an impossible task for me may be a really fun and rewarding journey for you. 

Everything I say in this post is comes with a caveat: depending on you situation, this may be really bad advice. But I hope that some of it can be helpful!
 
1. Is there a Finnish course for parents of small children available near you?

Depending on where you're located, there might be a Finnish course or language café available that is specifically designed for your situation, with child care options and extra support. Your local neuvola (Finnish maternity and child care clinic, literally "the advice place") should be able to point you in the right direction. 
 
2. Think about how you could build some Finnish into your everyday life.

When is the best time of the day for you to learn? Learning doesn't have to mean quiet, uninterrupted time. It can be something connected to your everyday routines: for example, you could talk to your baby in Finnish for 5 minutes every morning or have a podcast for Finnish learners on in the background of other things. Little daily routines like this go a very long way.  
 
3. Connect with others

I know for a fact that you’re not the only one struggling with this, and many struggles become smaller when you have community. So, my advice would be to find others who are in the same situation as you are and to support each other in your efforts. I know it’s easier said than done, especially in the blur that life with a baby tends to be, but it’s well worth the effort if it’s possible for you.
​
One option is a non-profit organization called Mothers In Business. It’s one great way to connect with others in the same situation for peer support. There are Facebook groups, online and face to face mingles and all kinds of grear events. Here's the international wing. 

Mothers in Business International has also organized language cafés and conversation groups for Finnish learners in the past (I’m proud to say that I was part of the very first chapter in 2020), and I think there might be more coming in the future.

There are many other great non-profits and organizations that can help you connect with other parents of small children. One really prominent one that is active all over Finland is Mannerheimin lastensuojeluliitto, MLL for short. Again, your local neuvola is a great place to find out what is available in your area.

4. Give yourself enough time

You still have some way to go before YKI level, and you're in a challenging stage in your life. You're most likely at level A1 now, which means you need to climb two more levels on the CEFR scale until you reach B1 and YKI level.  From basic level, you need to get to independent level, which means that you can manage in most everyday situations if Finnish. Your goal is absolutely, 100 % reachable, but be patient with yourself and your process. 
 
4. What textbooks to use

If you're able to keep studying with a text book or even attend a course, it would be good to study at least Suomen mestari 2 in addition to Suomen mestari 1, preferably also Suomen mestari 3.

Or, if Suomen mestari isn’t doing it for you, you might want to opt for another texbook like Sun suomi (from 0 to A2, explanations in English), Oma suomi 1 and 2 or No niin 1 and 2. It might be worth getting these out of the library to try them out and see what resonates.

Here’s some more general YKI preparation advice, including lots of links to materials and so forth.
 
I hope this helps, good luck! You can do this!
 
P.S: I’m teaching a self-paced course on the speaking portion of the YKI test. Pre-recorded video lessons and exercises for you to go through at your own pace and lots of teacher support by email and on Facebook.

​The current chapter of the course in ongoing right now. It's still possible to join in, but it's still too soon for your current language level. However, there will be further chapters coming up if you're interested. The next one will be in January 2024.  Here are all my upcoming Finnish courses. 

​Terve Nate!

This is such an important topic, thank you for asking this question!
​
An important part of getting really good at a language is accepting the fact that your progress won’t be linear. There will be months and sometimes years that will go by where you aren’t doing anything you’re your Finnish skills, which means that you will forget some of the things that you have learned, and everything will kind of rust over. Starting to speak Finnish after a long break can feel like banging your head against a wall. Why can’t I remember any vocabulary? Shouldn’t I know this by now?

Here are some things that have worked for my students and also for me personally when I’ve needed to recover or reactivate other languages. (Hi Spanish, Hungarian, and Swedish! Hola, hej, szia!)

1. Let go of should. You know what you know now and that’s enough. Yes, you used to know more, were able to speak more fluently and were able to express yourself in many situations. That doesn’t matter, your current skills are what they are and they’re enough as they are, for now. Sometimes, language learners are so busy beating themselves up about what they feel they should know that they don’t have any energy at all left for learning. Don’t let that happen to you! So, accept where you are now and then start thinking about where you want to get to.

2. Think of other things that you’re good at. What skills are applicable in this situation? For example, if you’re someone who likes to paint, you probably have the experience of not having done it for a while, picking it back up and having to face the fact that you’re not the painter you used to be. This goes for anything that requires skill, whether it’s reading, writing, posting on social media, yoga, tennis, running, knitting, cooking… How did you overcome the challenge of picking something back up again in other parts of your life? What has worked for you previously? Can you do the same with Finnish?

3. Start by reviving some of your passive language skills. Listen to something or read something that you enjoy. Listening to music is one great option, as that’s something that can be enjoyable even if you don’t understand a single word.  

3. Get into a routine of actively doing something in Finnish regularly. It sounds like you’re already doing some of this, which is great! Talk to yourself in Finnish for 5 minutes every morning, write a few words in a journal, comment on social media posts in Finnish. Do whatever feels like the easiest and most fun way of getting rid of the rust you’ve accumulated.

4. Think about using a textbook to help you revise what you already know. If you go this route, it might be worth getting a new textbook for a fresh take on familiar things. A good option for someone who wants to revise the very basics while also broadening and deepending their skills is Sun suomi, which has explanations in English. Another good textbook for revision is Oma suomi 1 (level 0 to A2) and 2 (level A2 to B1). If you can handle a heavy layout and aren’t too thrown off by typos, a textbook called Finnish tutor is also a great resource for revision.

One caveat: the language in a lot of Finnish textbooks for beginners gets quite difficult quite quickly, so don’t be angry at yourself if your level A2 (lower intermediate) textbook feels really demanding when you used to be at B2 (advanced). Of course, if you already have a textbook that you know and like, there’s nothing wrong with revising with that one! The books that I’ve mentioned here are the ones that I think might be the best in this situation, but they definitely aren’t the only options available, far from it.

5. Find a course to attend. Finnishcourses.fi is good place to start looking, and Kielibuusti is another. If you’re not in Finland, there are many great online courses available. Taking a few private lessons is another great way to get rid of that rust and to regain confidence in your skills in an efficient way.

6. Find ways to start using the language again in real life. Think of the situations that you’d like to speak Finnish in and then get into those situations. If you're not in Finland, think about what you can do online.

Remember to let go of the should and trust the process. The skills you had aren’t lost forever, they’re just rusty. It will take some time to get to the place where you once were, but it will happen quite quickly if you let it.

Onnea matkaan, sä pystyt siihen!
Good luck, you can do it! 

Readers, what are your tips for speaking Finnish again after a long break? Comment below or on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn or Twitter.